CASI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CASI) surged in extended trading on Wednesday after the company said it has received a preliminary proposal from CEO Wei-Wu-He to acquire its entire business operations in China.
Shares of the China-based biotech were up nearly 80% at $6.41 in trading after the bell.
According to the proposal, all license-in, distribution and related rights in Asia related to all the CASI’s pipeline products, will also be acquired for an aggregate purchase price of $40 million, which shall include assumption of up to $20 million of debt, the company said.
CASI also said it has entered into securities purchase agreements with certain investors for a private investment in public equity financing that is expected to result in gross proceeds of about $15 million.
The PIPE transaction is being led by Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners and Foresite Capital, with participation by Panacea Venture and CEO Wei-Wu He and his family trust.
In the PIPE transaction, which is expected to close in mid-July, CASI is selling an aggregate of 1.02M ordinary shares, at a price of $5.00 per ordinary share.
The company is also planning to submit an Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for CID-103 for the treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients by the end of this year.
CASI believes that with the proceeds from the private placement financing, together with its existing cash and cash equivalents, it will have sufficient capital to complete the Phase II clinical trial for AMR.